Brain Jello

I'm moving my blog

2007-03-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

http://robdonsbrainjello.blogspot.com

going with the new format - this is where all my new postings will be found

Grandchildren are Wonderful!

2007-03-24T04:54:00.000-07:00

9 1/2 months

Leading Me Astray.

2006-11-29T18:54:00.000-08:00

How is it that so many pastors don't know the difference between a prayer, a benediction, and a sermon? Why am I asking this? Well, a couple of things got to me recently. First, I attended a pre-Veteran's Day program in October - I believe it was basically for the local politicians, since election day was Nov. 7th and Verteran's Day isn't until Nov. 11th - the local politicians had their signs out all around the place. But that is not the issue. The issue was the local pastor of a well know church in the area who was giving the benediction. This man had no clue as to what he was supposed to do (which was to give a benediction - a blessing). After talking for over three minutes about what he was going to do and telling the audience what they were supposed to do for the benediction (which he turned into a prayer and quassi alter call) he lost me. The fourth and final time he said "and with every head bowed..." I did not bow my head nor close my eyes. I sat and wondered how this guy could be so clueless, how could he not know how to give a benediction? How could he not understand the purpose of the benediction at this event?

Then last Sunday at church my pastor started preaching a sermon during a prayer (this man has a Ph D). He started out fine, thanking God, acknowledging God, petitioning God and then he started on a....." for we know that if....then, and we know that if we do this or don't do that...then..."
He lost me, I started thinking "hey man, you're going to be preaching the sermon in about three minutes - stict to the prayer." Then we wonder why people feel like they don't know how to pray - well it's because their pastors don't set an example of how to pray - they mix up preaching with their prayers......come on guys..... the example was set by Jesus Christ .....The Lord's Prayer.....it's a prayer.

So here's the basics according to Webster.
Prayer: an earnest request; a humble entreaty made to God.
Sermon: a speech given as instruction in religion or morals.
Benediction: a blessing.

So come on guys, let's try to get the simple stuff right. If you can't make your point in your sermon, don't try to preach little sermonettes in your prayers or benedictions - spend more time working on your sermon!

The Not So Fast World of Comcast

2006-10-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday (Oct. 26th) I discovered that I could not log onto my email account nor could I log onto Comcast. I was no longer recognized as a valid customer. Some how in the change over on their email format I was lost. Comcast informed me that it would take 24 to 72 hours to correct the problem (it was a problem on their end). Today is Oct. 31st, well past the 72 hour mark and I still have no email and I am still not recognized as a customer by Comcast.

The Comcast broadband my be fast, but their customer service definitely is not fast by any standard.

A Visit With Dad

2006-09-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well the family breakfast was fairly quiet last Saturday. Mom, Natalie, Orpha, Karen, Donna, Roxie, my wife and I. Karen enjoyed her Alaskan cruse. Donna still has a boat load of cats at home - that was it.

I went to see dad after breakfast, we had a much better visit in the one on one situation. He wasn't real talkative but he was much more comfortable visiting at home than going out for the family breakfast.

Family Breakfast

2006-09-17T03:34:00.000-07:00

There was a good turn out for the family breakfast yesterday.
My wife and myself, aunt Orpha, aunt Natalie, Uncle Fran and Wanda, my parents (yes Dad came too), my cousin Kathy was here from Nevada, Nancy stopped in on here way to Georgia, cousin Becky, cousin Ann and her daughter Robin, and Robins youngest boy.

Robin is going to be 31, she looks like she should be a high school senior. Becky was in her firefighters uniform, she was headed to work after breakfast. Nancy who lives out in Washington state is working in Columbus, GA next week and stopped in to visit her folks and see her sisters (Kathy and Becky). Ann had finished putting up about 75 quarts of green beans and 100 quarts ot tomatos. Robin is studying American Sign language and shared some information on American Sign and and some of the other sign languages, I didn't now that much of American Sign comes from the French Sign system.

The depressing part was my dad. Dad sat across from me and after he sat down he started asking me about fishing. I realized that he thought I was uncle Fran, Fran is the fisherman of the group. I think there were just to many people around for dad to keep everything straight. I realize that dad is 85, but it was still startling when I realized that he didn't recognized me.
Mom has talked about how dad has been doing less, how hard it is to get him out to do things and how difficult it is to keep him physically and mentally active, he seems to just be giving up instead of fighting to keep what he has left. I can see how if you're starting to forget things and not recognizing people that you would be reluctant to expose yourself. Mom deals with this everyday, it has to be hard on her as well, to see this happening. I don't know that I can do anyting other than make it a priority to visit more often.

The Joy of Home Maintenance

2006-09-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the joy of home maintenance. I have a fluorescent light fixture upstairs that I have had some problems with in the past, nothing major just an inconvenience. Well, I came home Friday to find that the fluorescent lights had fallen out of the fixture – glass everywhere – my first job was to run the shop vac so that I could get to my recording equipment and get the glass off and out of it. That accomplished I thought that since the fixture was loose that I would just go ahead and replace it with a standard light fixture. So on the way home from the Saturday morning family breakfast I stopped and got a fixture and light bulbs.

After taking down the fluorescent fixture I discover that the junction box is not anchored to anything – no wonder the fixture wobbled every time a jet flew over…and the cut out for the opening was a hack job, no straight lines, jagged edges, and just enough room for the wire to come through. So now I need to square off the opening and see if there is a stud I can anchor to or one close enough to put a brace in so that I can anchor to that and put up the fixture.

I can’t complain too much, we did get a good deal on the house and it was obvious that the previous owner had added this work area over the garage himself and the room has served us well for many years…..from my son’s drum room to my studio. It just that what should have been a simple thirty minute replacement is now going to be an afternoon repair job.

A Delightful Surprise

2006-09-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

On this cool Saturday morning I headed for Farmland, Indiana to get my two week supply of coffee from The Main Street Coffee Company. MSCC has the best coffee in east central Indiana and well worth the drive.

As I walked into The Main Street Coffee Shop I first heard the piano and wondering what was going on I looked through the entry to the sitting area and heard the oboist as she made her entrance on the song - what a beautiful sound, a solid centered tone and impeccable intonation. I thought "how nice, a university student is playing a recital here."

I listened as I make my coffee purchase and asked one of the owners about the young lady playing the oboe. It was her neice, a high school junior stopping in on her way back to Interlocken. Then she told me that it was the young oboist' father accompaning her on the piano. What a delightful surprise. I got a large Costa Rican coffee and sat down to enjoy the rest of the recital. How wonderful to hear this young musician play so musically on such a difficult instrument.... to see and hear a daughter and father perform so beautifully together.

We got to meet the young artist and her parents after the performance. How nice to see a young person that has parents that have not only allowed and helped her to persue her passion, but also share in the beauty and joy of her passion.

I look forward to hearing this young lady perform again and to hopefully finding more delightful surprises at The Main Street Coffee Company. But, delightful surprises or not, MSCC is the place to go for the best coffee in east central Indiana.

The Down Beat Has Been Given!

2006-08-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well, somehow I have survived the first four days of the new school year.

The high school choir has 20 female voices and 1 male voice. Looks like we will be doing SAB and SSA. The ladies have a nice sound and blend together very nicely on the SAB tune we worked on this week.

The high school band has the pressure on - we have two performances for the local hometown festival on the 26th. The freshman are doing great! They have been well behaved and are focused on learning their music. The behavior problems have been with some upper-classmen.

I do have a cadet teacher at the middle school this year. She is a senior and a very fine musician. She will be keeping me on my toes. She is eager to go and wants to work with the 7th grade band.

The middle school choir (7th and 8th graders) are off to a rocky start, I wrote up two students the first day for inappropriate behavior. The second day the principal had to remove one of them from class. The third day I had a student inform me of another student that antagonises him - new seating chart.

The students in 8th grade band that have their instruments are off to a good start. But, there are still 5 students that have not brought their instruments to school yet - looks that they will be failing the class before the end of the second week.

The 7th grade band appears to be a good group, they should be fun. There are 3 students who transferred in from other schools where they start band in the 6th grade so my cadet teacher and I will have to come up with some musically challenging things for them so they don't get bored out of their skulls.

The biggest downer is that the laptop I used last year for band and choir is down. I had a lot of stuff (programs and music) that I liked using on it and not having it is dropping me back a bit.

Oh well, the down beat has been given and we shall do our best to finish the tune to the best of our abilities with what we have, making adjustments along the way and ending together.

Homogenizing Popular Music

2006-08-13T03:43:00.000-07:00

A friend recently mentioned how we have lost our musical roots, our ethnic musical roots. As I thought about this I realized that it is true, once you get outside of the large metropolitan cities where there are still ethnic neighborhoods that hold on to and celebrate their ethnic roots the "air waves" are filled with popular music that fits into one of the music entertainment industries "what sells" formulas. The air waves are controlled by a small number of large corporations which means that there are fewer influences on what gets air play. Many of the small local broadcast stations that remain now purchase their programing from the large media corporations. These large corporations are the ones that are now fighting for control of music on the world wide web.

But take some time and actually listen to some radio stations and watch some music videos. Listen and watch different genres, rap, country, hip-hop, rock, Christian - you will find more similarities than differences in style and images. The biggest area of difference is in verbage.
As I was going back and forth from BET Uncensored and CMT I found that the main difference was in the way that the people were dressed. On the BET video the women were barely clothed and paraded around for the men, the men were dressed in oversized clothes, couldn't figure out how to wear their baseball caps and had big rings and big jewelery around their necks. Then on CMT the women were barely clothed, paraded around for the men, the men wore cowboy hats, pointy toed boots and had big belt buckles. Other than the emphasis on different beats the music was quite similar and the verbage and images on both were just plain trash.

As fewer corporations gain control over the air waves, and other broadcasting technology our musical choices become more homogenized. Our ears become less discriminating and music becomes a background filler for our lives rather than an artist expression of our souls.

Totally Relaxed

2006-08-04T04:46:00.000-07:00

Samantha came to visit

2006-07-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

2006-07-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

The New York Times

Let us not walk blindly or willingly into becoming a fascist state.

Parenthood - an interesting journey

2006-07-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well, my daughter left for home early this morning - it is still hard to say goodbye and let her go over 900 miles away. So I am sitting downtown at this 2nd rate (according to my son) coffee shop having some coffee and a muffin (cranberry).
It doen't matter whether your child is 3 days old, 3 years old, 30 years old, or older, whatever age they are, they are still your child.
When they are babies, you nuture them and protect them so that they can grow. Then you sent them off to school to learn the basic skills they will need to just survive in this batterred and brused world. You encourage them to study and get into college. Some children take more encouragement and prodding than others. They go off to college to learn to be a better person, to learn to make a small difference in the world. To learn about logic and philosophy. Then they go off in the world to create their own life, the thing you have helped prepare them to do, and it is still hard to let them go, but you have to let them go - you have to let them go with love, blessings, and encouragement. You want to keep them, but that is not what life is about
You have to find consolation in the fact that they have grown into independent adults, that they can and will make their way in the world. But, you always let them know that you are just a phone call away, willing to help in whatever way you possibly can.
we have raised our children well (mostly Jan), they are Christians, they are intelligent, educated, caring adults, but they are still our children and it is still hard to let them go.

More Samantha

2006-06-20T04:08:00.000-07:00

Samantha Rose

2006-05-27T01:47:00.000-07:00

May 23, 2006.
5 lbs 15 oz
18 3/4 inches

Today's Quote

2006-04-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

"Television can give us so much, except the time to think."
Bernice Buresh in The Los Angeles Times

The Power To Entertain Yourself.

2006-04-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Commercials I Hate; number 1.

Amp'd Mobile. "the power to entertain yourself."

This commercial plays directly on the self-absorbed, naricissitic nature of materialistic North Americans. The "it's all about me" generation. It spins on the "if I'm not having fun, if I'm not being entertained then somethings wrong with my life" attitude of television nutured generations. It validates the "all about me" attitude.

The commercial shows a guy riding on a bus. This guy could have a conversation and get to know another passenger, he could observe those around him and reflect on how this diverse group ended up together on the bus, he could try to make some basic observations on life and people, he could try to put a pleasant moment into someone else's life, he could simply offer a friendly smile, but he does not do any of these things that might connect him to people and life.

The guy is so self-absorbed that he must be entertained at any cost and without any reguard or concern for anyone else. He commands a passenger to chew a piece of gum left on the side of a seat, then commands another passenger to shake that thing, tells two other passengers to fight and then demands that the driver slam on the brakes. Everyone responds to his commands, because the world revolves around him and he must be entertained or the world would stop spinning.

Amp'd Mobile is playing on this narcissitic attitude of consumers in order to sell their product and the people in North America with the "I deserve this now because the world revolves around me" attitude will use this as a justification to fill the lack of substance in their lives with a new toy for their entertainment.

Neil Postman is correct, we are "entertaining ourselves to death." We do not need more entertainment or the promotion for more entertainment. We need more substance in our lives.
If you cannot enteract with the people around you in a meaningful way then read a book, learn a new skill, reflect on the meaning of life, reflect on your own life. Entertainment is highly overrated for it is fleeting. Rather than seeking the isolated entertainment of an Amp'd Mobile phone or an IPOD, seek out meaningful interaction with people.

My parents had two families

2006-03-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well, at the Bathauer breakfast meeting this last Saturday my uncle Fran was looking for an old picture of his father, Sam, for Dr. Reardon. Fran wants to find the old photo of Sam standing in front of the store. My mother has a copy of such a picture, but she can't remember who she loaded it to last. She had several old pictures in a big envelope that she has been letting family members borrow to make copies and then return to her. This brought up the subject of family photos and photos of children.

My mother remarked that she must have 1500 photos of my younger sister Lori and some pictures of her other children as well. Her other children being my older sister Kay and myself.
She was almost apologetic about having so many pictures of Lori. But, when Lori came along my parents had the money to buy film and get it developed. Some explanation: my sister Kay is about 18 months older than me so we grew up together, my sister Lori is 16 years younger than me so she was basically an only child. My parents were in a much better place financially when Lori came along. Jan and I both commented on how we remembered having rolls of film and had wait until we had the money to get them developed.

We talked about the convenience of digital cameras and Jason and Emily needing a good camera with their first child on the way. (Side note to Jason, "I don't want to here it.") I put in the side note because my son Jason always comments on how we have so many pictures of his older sister, Marni, our first child, and that the few pictures we have of him usually have Marni in them as well. But all of you parents with more than one child know how that goes.

Enough asides. If any Bathauer family members have mom's packet of pictures or a copy of the picture of grandpa Bathauer in front of the store, let mom or uncle Fran know, they need a copy.

A few more people were there this week: my mother, Ruby, my aunt Natalie, aunt Orpha, uncle Fran and his wife Wanda, my cousin Ginger and my wife and I.

I Ought To Do This

2006-03-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

I went to the family breakfast meeting this morning. Saturday mornings, 8am at McDonalds on the north side of Anderson - if you want to catch up on the Bathauer family, that's where you go. It's a whoever is there is there sort of thing. A small group today, my mother, my aunt Natalie, my wife and I. My aunt Orpah wasn't there, she is home with pneaumonia, don't know about anyone else.

Well, my mother tells me that my uncle Fran heard Dr. Robert Reardon speak recently at East Side Church of God in Anderson. Dr. Reardon was speaking of "ought" and related a story about my grandfather, Samuel Bathauer. My grandfather owned a neighborhood grocery store on 8th street and another one at 5th and College Dr. Grandpa Bathauer also had several apartment buildings at the 5th and College location where Reardon auditorium now stands.

Dr. Reardon was telling how back in the 1930's, 40's and 50's, when Sam had the neighborhood groceries, people had tabs, they got their groceries on credit- they paid what they could, when they could. Sam Bathauer didn't pressure people for payment, he trusted people, he understood the times and the hardships that everyone struggled with in day to day life. My mother added that she did remember her dad taking the tabs (bills) and going around calling on people when his children (6 of them) needed shoes or clothes - asking if there was anyway they could pay anything on their tab. If they had three pennies he would accept the pennies, if they had a quarter or a dollar to pay toward their debt he would accepted that and not pressure them for more. Once he had enough to provide for the needs of his children (not their wants or desires, but their needs) he would stop and come home.

Dr. Reardon told about how when Sam Bathauer sold the grocery stores in the early 1950's that he had a stack of tabs (unpaid bills) and that Sam forgave all the debts. Dr. Reardon then told how he asked Sam why he had done that, why he had forgiven those debts, Sam replied that "it was just something that I felt I ought to do, so I did it." What! He felt that he ought to do this so he did it! My uncle Fran, who was an accountant, still talks about how his father could have been a wealthy man if he had collect all the tabs. Grandpa Bathauer lived by the sweat of his brow until his dying day.

I was feeling very small on the way home as I thought about this - all the oughts that have come to my mind and have been spoken with my voice and not acted upon. Simple oughts: I ought to call my sister, I ought to go over to Anderson and see my folks, I ought to check on my neighbor, and on and on. Oughts that do not require financial sacifice, but simply a little time and energy.

As I drove along another old memory popped into my mind. A memory of Grandpa standing over the liver and onions frying in the iron skillet on the stove and me sitting at the kitchen table talking. Grandpa Bathauer was a good listener, he would ask a question and then just let you talk. I'm not sure what I had said, but I remember his reply being something like "faith is not a license to be foolish, it is a call to be courageous." Now it came together for me. Grandpa Bathauer wasn't being foolish or sentimental by forgiving all those debts, he was answering the call to be courageous, he was standing tall and acting out of faith. I feel even smaller now so I will close out with a simple little prayer.

"Lord, stand me up, give me the strength to answer the call to be courageous. Help to to act upon the oughts that are placed upon me."

The Simple Gifts of Zen

2006-02-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

I recently finished reading John Daido Loori's The Zen of Creativity, Cultivating Your Artistic Life. All 243 pages of it. I must admit I was somewhat disappointed after seriously contemplating my way through this book. I'm not sure what I was looking for, perhaps some mystical revelation or profound new insight. But, the revelation and insight did not come from Loori's book, it came when I realized that I could sum up his 243 pages with an old Shaker hymn and the Shakertown Pledge. So if you want some insight and revelation into creativity, sing the old Shaker tune Simple Gifts and seriously think about what you are singing. Then take a look at the Shakertown Pledge.

Simple Gifts: 'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free
'Tis a gift to come down where you want to be
and when you have come to the place just right
it will be in the valley of love and delight!

When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shall not be ashamed
turn, turn, it will be our delight
'Til by turning, turning, we come round right.

The Shakertown Pledge, a spiritual committment to simple living, social justice,
and environmental care:
Recognising that the earth & the fulness thereof is a gift from our gracious God, & that we are called to cherish, nurture, & provide loving stewardship for the earth's resources.
And recognising that life itself is a gift, & a call to responsibility, joy & celebration.
I make the following declaration:
I delclare myself to be a World Citizen.
I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity & to share my personal wealth with the world's poor.
I commit myself to join with others in reshaping institutions in order to bring about a more just global society, in which each person has full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual & spiritual growth.
I commit myself to occupational accountability, & in so doing, I will seek to avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
I affirm the gift of my body, & commit myself to its proper nourishment & physical well-being
I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others, & to attempt to relate honestly, morally, & lovingly to those around me.
I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation, & study.
I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith.

(the only thing the Shakers got wrong was the abstinence thing)

And for good measure I will throw in a quotation from Sydney Carter's poem Interview:
"So what do you believe in?
Nothing fixed or final,
all the while I travel a miracle.
I doubt, and yet
I walk upon the water"

So, think on this for awhile and don't waste your time on The Zen of Creativity.

Inherently Sacred

2006-01-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I tried to catch up on my blog readings today. My son had links to blogs of a couple of other young men that I like to keep up with - they are all doing wonderful work through their faith and dedication to God. But, what really got me going was my son's blog where he talked about feeling his unborn child moving in the womb of his wife. What a wonder experience.

Jason is also preaching on "the heart of worship" this week. So, the unborn child and the sermon topic brought to mind the Thomas Moore book I just read. I like the way Thomas Moore talks about the soul being the quiet place, the place where we simply let things be what there are and let enlightenment come in it's own time.

Moore, in talking about soulfulness and living a soulful life, refers to the soulful union of marriage - the nurturing of our individual souls. This, along with Jason's comments about his and Em's unborn child, brought me back to reread a passage from Moore's book, Soul Mates, and here it is:
"...we have the privilege of participating in the greatest mystery of human life - procreation. How much closer to divinity can we come than to bring new life into existence and to play a fundamental role in making that life meaningful, creative, individual, and communal? If there is anything in life that is inherently sacred, it is having sex and giving birth."

Support the Transit Workers Strike in NYC

2005-12-22T02:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, support the Transit Workers Union and their strike in NYC. They are fighting the issues that every worker is facing today, they are fighting the fight that many have already lost. What are the real isssues: health insurance, retirement, and a living wage.

The publick tansportation system is the life blood of NYC. I have heard estimates on the news that the strike cost the city about $100 million dollars during it's short duration. This should be proof of how valuable the transportation system is to the city. The transportation workers should be paid in proportion to their contribution to the econmic welfare of the city. Yes, they are public employees, but if their economic impact is indeed as large as stated then the businesses in NYC should be willing to pay additional transportation taxes to insure their economic health.

The only advantage that the transportation workers have is that their jobs cannot be outsourced to cheap unregulated laborers overseas. Their "illegal" strike showed their encomic importance to the city. They should be compensated accordingly. Businesses should be taxed accordingly to cover the compensation for the transportation workers.

We will all be affected by what the transportation workers of NYC win or lose. While the White House is working at taking away our social safety net of Social Security by lowering payments, raising the retirement age, individualizing accounts, and lowering health care benefits, the transportation workers must fight to reverse this trend. Private companies and industries are abandoning their retirement plans, leaving their retirees at the mercy of the federal government and leaving their retired workers with reduced benefits. The transportation workers of NYC are fighting for all of us, their struggle can move the American worker forward or it can help the corporations of America lead us back to the 19th century where retirement was the luxury of only the wealthy.

What happens with the transportation workers in NYC will have a major impact on all of the workers in America in both public and private sectors. The White House is leading us back to the robber barron days of the 19th century and we must not allow this to happen. The American worker most not go quietly, they must fight against this with all of their might.

Be Thankful That We Are Not Unique - Part One

2005-11-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving time. A time of conformity, a time when adherence to tradition and social mores brings most of us together in a spirit of cooperation and thankfulness. A time when we acknowledge that we have more similarities than differences as human beings. We need to be thankful for our similarities, for our willingness to conform to social mores and religious doctrine for that is what has kept the human race on this planet. Without conformity, without unity through our similarities we would have become extinct centuries ago.

Individual uniqueness gave us such things as the polio vacine. But it was the order that flows from conformity that allowed the polio vacine to be distributed in an effiencent and effective manner. Yes, we need those individual variances, those individuals who can channel their unique talents to the benefit of society as a whole. Without the ability to conform to social order unique individuals simply become freaks in the alley frying their brains on drugs.

Yes, be thankful that we are not all significantly unique, for if we were we would not be here to be thankful for anything.

Thunder Storms

2005-11-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning after the electricty had gone off for about the third time. The wind was blowing, there was thunder and lightning. There was a tornado watch to the south of us and thunderstorm warnings for just about everyone. The rain was beating against the house, a good time to be indoors.

The storms have moved out and now we have gray skies and high winds remaining. The winds are forecasted to be with us for the remainder of the daylight hours. Autum is here.

In the blink of an eye

2005-11-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

She sits by the side of the road, grieving for and remembering her cousin Brittany Tarantino.

One moment celebrating a friends 16th birthday, the next moment tragically taken from this life. Our children, our friends, our families are all precious and our time with them is uncertain. We need to work at making sure we are joyously celebrating life with them, that we embrace them with love. We need times of joy and celebration so that the tragedy of loss and the grieving of passsing may be overcome.

see article: http://www.dailycommercial.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&subsectionID=162&articleID=14533

Kickin' Back

2005-11-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm here kickin' back at the Blue Bottle, coffee and a carrot/cream cheese muffin. It's late afternoon, my son comes down to the Blue Bottle in the mornings and occassionaly mentions his visits on his blog. I decided to try Wednesday, late afternoon, 4:30pm. No one is home until late on Wednesdays so here I am.

Checking email on the old laptop, drinking coffee, and hey, this muffin is really good. There is a guy in the corner, checking his email, talking on his cell phone, and reading the paper - what a multi-tasker! Or maybe he's just a supersonic-schizophrenic? Maybe the proper term would be hyper-threading schizophrenic now-a-days.

There is a very large man sitting at the counter, and I mean a very large man. To get a coffee from the pump thermos you would have to squeeze by him or most likely he would have to move. A slender young girl is coming in the back, she barely squeezes by him - this guy makes me look good. I wonder, "how long will that stool hold him?"

Oh well, it is quiet and peaceful. This is a good time to be downtown, drinking coffee, checking email and pondering on some of the simple issues we face in this life. Like how I know I'm in trouble because I will be coming back for another one of those muffins.

Anthem Blue Cross. Seige Heil!

2005-10-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

On Oct. 6, 2005 I went to my family doctor, the doctor I have gone to since I was twelve years old (that’s 45 years). I had severe pain in my right shoulder. The pain was so intense that I had to struggle to get dressed, I drove using my left hand and arm because using my right arm was too painful.

My doctor had x-rays taken, after examining the x-rays he diagnosed tendonitis. He gave me a prescription for Mobic and told me if the pain wasn’t gone in 30 days to call him and he would send me in for an MRI. I was in intense pain and went to the pharmacy where I was informed that my insurer would not cover the prescription for Mobic. I called my doctor and he in turn called Anthem. Anthem informed my doctor that in order to qualify for payment that he would first have to prescribe the drugs in their Step Therapy. My doctor advised them that he considered the alternative drug in their Step Therapy to be a dangerous drug and would not prescribe that drug, that he wanted me to use the Mobic. The doctor who actually examined me, the doctor who has been my physician for 45 years told them this and they still declined to authorize the payment for the Mobic prescription. I was left with the choice of paying all of the $106.00 for the Mobic or finding another physician that would prescribe one of the drugs in Anthems Step Therapy for me. I got the Mobic without Anthem and without going to another physician. Safer over the counter alternatives or samples of safer alternatives from my physician do not count as part of Step Therapy. Seige Heil!

I understand that the objective of Anthem is to save money so that they can give out going C.E.O.s $350 million dollar buy out packages. By saving $60.00 on one treatment, multiplied by 100,000 or 300,000 clients they can save enough money to give the executives at Anthem multi-million dollar bonuses. Their strong armed Nazi tactics are designed not to help relieve the pain and suffering of their client members, but to maintain the exorbitant salaries, bonuses, and luxurious lifestyles of their Gestapo style executives and C.E.O.

Suffering for the cause of the Anthem Nazi Regime

ID:076m54070

Medication: Mobic

Reference: 866385

(should I have this tattooed on my arm?)

Toledo are you crazy!

2005-10-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

Mayor Ford of Toledo must be insane, allowing an American Neo-Nazi group to plan a march in his city. The key word here is Nazi not Ameican. They are Nazi's! Have we learned nothing from our histroy? Why not allow a pro Alkida march in Toledo as well? Are the city officals of Toledo so ignorant that they did not think there would be protests and actions against allowing Nazi's to march in their streets? The scared little Neo-Nazi ran away instead of marching after the protest riots.

The city of Toledo would have done us all a favor if they had let the protesters and gangs annihilate the Neo-Nazi's that showed up. Then Toledo officals could invite Alkida members to come and march in their streets and the people of Toledo could then annihilate them too. Maybe that is the answer to Homeland Security. We can send all the terrorist and hate groups in America to march in the streets of Toledo. Then the outraged citizens of Toledo could annihilate them.

Everything old is new again

2005-10-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

I was re-reading through parts of Robert D. Putnam's Bowling Alone. In the section on the Progressive Era there is a quote from Walter Lippmann "We have changed our environment more quickly than we know how to change ourselves."(1914).

How true this is today. The difference being that today the changes are coming at supersonic speed. Moore's Law is quickly becoming obsolete. The faster technology advances, the quicker and easier it becomes to expand the reaches of our new global economy. Just as we are spun 'round from a company moving it's machinery or services to another country such as China or India a half dozen other companies will follow suit and we are spun 'round and 'round and no brake handle can be found.

We need help in order to change and adapt to this new global economy. People are going from full time jobs with benefits to part time jobs with no benefits. When people are working one, two or three part time jobs just for food, shelter and clothing there is no room for error, there is no room for person crisis. If a person becomes ill, needs medical attention or a car repair then they have to give up some part of their food, shelter or clothing.

National health care would be the best safety net that we could privide for the American people in this age of accelerated change. People could better handle the non-benefit jobs they can find if they knew that a personal or family illness would not leave them homeless or hungry.

Global Economics, the short course

2005-09-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

Breaking News

2005-09-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

Political Perspective

2005-09-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Webster defines an insurgent as one who rises up against political or governmental authority, a rebel and insurgency as a rising in revolt. Webster defines insurrection as a rising up against established authority and revolution as the overthrow of a government or social system with another taking its place.

So by definition the Continental Army of the American Revolution was comprised of insurgents (British subjects) rising up in revolt against the established government (British rule – King George III). British rule was established in the Colonies and the British Army had been a welcome force. The Colonial Militias had been trained by the British Army. British authority was acknowledge and accepted for many years.

Today we refer to these Colonial insurgents as patriots. It’s all in perspective.

The government news releases and the network coverage of the “War” in Iraq continually refer to the insurgents attacking American troupes or insurgent activity or insurgents bombing different places. Who are we to call these people insurgents? They are not rising up against an established political or governmental authority. They are defending their country, their homeland, their way of life from foreign invaders. The American army was not an established or welcome force in Iraq. The new “Democracy” in Iraq is not an established government.

So I guess if you can’t find Osama Bin Laden, if you can’t catch him, if you can’t sanction or curtail his real supports, because you want and need the Saudi’s oil, then you go after the easiest target you can find. You invade Iraq and label their patriots as insurgents.

Let me patiently walk

2005-09-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

I took my parents over to the Central Indiana Orthopedic Center in Anderson today. Mom, who is 82, got her left rotar cuff repaired. Dad, who is 85, was going to take her by himself. Although they cherish their independence and will struggle to maintain it for as long as possible, they also recognize that there are times that they need a little help.

Mom was the third surgery. They took her back and got her ready , started her I.V. and then let Dad and I speak to her briefly before she went back to the O.R. The surgery went well. The doctor showed Dad and me a series of pictures from the surgery, from the damaged joint and spurs through the fully repaired rotar cuff. Then he gave us the instructions on her care. I think Mom was glad I was there for that part – to make sure Dad understood the instructions. The doctor also let us know it could take up to 24 hours for the nerve block to wear off and to get the prescription filled for the pain medication on the way home while she wasn’t feeling anything.

Mom doesn’t have insurance for medication, so we stopped at this place she goes for her prescriptions. A very interesting place – The sign out front reads “Low Cost Prescriptions – Guns – and Ammo”. I hope everyone is getting their Paxil before they get their Guns and Ammo.

Well, Dad gets ready to go in and get the prescription and can’t find the check book –“it’s in your front pocket”, he can’t find a pen – “take mine”. Finally he goes in after the medicine. While we are in the car Mom tells me how Nat had given her some medicine to take four times a day after her surgery to help the healing, natural holist stuff. I told her to ask the doctor before taking anything he didn’t prescribe. Dad finally come out with the medicine – only $12.90. Mon again starts to tell me how Nat had given her some medicine….We get to their house. Mom was still wobbling so we took our time and got her into the house. Put her in the recliner, Dad put an ice pack on her shoulder. Then she started telling me again how Nat had given her some medicine-holist, natural stuff….

I found myself thinking “maybe if we give her some pain pills she’ll sleep all afternoon.”

Then I realized how terrible-real, but terrible that was. I found myself praying; “Lord, these people have loved me and nurtured me all the days of my life, please give me the patience and the strength to simply walk with them now and serve in whatever small way I can. Amen”

Well, I didn’t give her any medicine-she didn’t need it. She did sleep most of the afternoon and when she awoke about 430pm she was much more alert. While she was talking with my older sister on the phone I found myself praying; “Lord, if I live to be as old as my parents please grant my children the patience and strength to simply walk with me in the autumn of my journey through life. Amen.”

With patience and gentleness, life is good.

Kurt Vannegut

2005-09-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

I happened to catch Liane Hansen's short interview with Kurt Vannegut on NPRs Weekend Edition Sunday today. She was asking him how the role of the satirist in America has changed. Here are some of the things that rang loudest in my ears:

Ink and paper doesn't matter anymore, television is the whole story - it is the way to communicate.

The libraries are full with volumes of satire, some of it going back to Roman times, and the subject is still what idiotic, complicated things human beings are.

.art is such an innocent thing to do.....I hate that public schools are cutting out the arts - art is such a human thing to do.

Liane commented on how he had once said that he would like his epitaph to read:
The only proof I needed for the existence of God was music.

You can listen to the interview and read the short article at http://www.npr.org/
Be sure to read his comments on imagination in the last two paragraphs.

Where is Jason?

2005-09-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

I need a bigger shredder!

2005-09-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Every day I get more unsolicited pre-approvals for loans, mortgages, and credit cards. They all arrive with my full legal name, address and zip code along with a pre-approval number. How can I be considered for approval on something I have not requested? Where did they get the information to grant me a pre-approval? Why do I have to find a way to get off of a list that I did not want to be on in the first place?

In this world of identity theft, I have to shred the mail and dispose of the paper. What a waste of natural resources. Once the solicitation has been mailed I am the one that is left with the burden of protecting my privacy and identity. And I wonder if this accomplishes anything since the people sending the solicitation already have more information about me than I would like for them to posses.

How have I been targeted for this? What demographic is keying these offers of money at unbelievable interest rates. I know my zip code is a factor, I guess professional memberships, and charitable contributions are also sources of target lists. Someone has to be responding to these mass demographic solicitation mailings or the mailings would cease. How can people fall prey to the oppression of multiple credit cards? What a trap!

I do not have a credit card. I do not want a credit card. My wife has a credit card through her credit union that we can use for emergencies and that is all we need. I already have a mortgage and I simply want to pay if off not refinance or borrow against equity.

Why are people responding to this crap. Get a bigger shredder.

Yes, maybe that's it. We can shred these mailings and send the shredding back to the solicitors.
Pigeons of the world unite!

Cage Free

2005-09-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

I AM APPALLED

2005-09-03T04:48:00.000-07:00

As I listened and watched the news coverage of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina I was shocked that news reporters and the governor of Louisiana were making statements that they were appalled at the behavior of people that were still in New Orleans. They were appalled at the looting and shooting that was happening there. I am appalled that they are appalled.

Outside of emergency personnel the people that were in New Orleans through the hurricane and that were still there on Thursday and Friday were there primarily because they lacked the material and financial means to leave.

These people have had their existence reduced to a primal minute by minute struggle for survival. They are not concerned with social constricts or morale standards of conduct. Their focus is on surviving this minute and the next. In this primal state there are no rules, they make it up as they go along. They are doing whatever they think might help them find their next drink of safe water, their next bite of uncontaminated food, dry clothes, and shelter for the night. In this primal state they will do whatever they think will show they have the power to protect themselves and their families. They are trying to find a sense of control over some aspect of their lives,

Not everyone is willing or capable of surrendering control of their lives by going to a shelter. Not everyone is willing to surrender and submit to being relocated as a refugee.

Rather than being appalled at the disenfranchised souls that were left in New Orleans, we should be appalled that this great nation of ours lacked the ability to respond to this disaster in a quick and efficient manner.

He Got It!

2005-09-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Did you read the Public Letter Box in the Muncie Star Press today, Sept. 02, 2005?
The policy statement for editing Letters to the Editor was in the footer.
He got it.

It Isn't Obvious

2005-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

I wrote this to The Star Press
Dear Editor, The online version of The Star Press contains the following statement, "The Star Press welcomes your views. To send a letter to the editor, you must include your name, address and telephone number. All letters are subject to possible editing for clarity, taste and length." The last sentence should included in the header of the online version and the published versions of the Public Letter Box so the general public is aware that these letters may or may not be published as intended by the sender.
I know of at least one letter to the editor that was published on Sept. 01, 2005 that had a significant part of the letter omitted. The part that was omitted was the bases for the letter being submitted. I know this because I had the opportunity to read a copy of the original letter.

Star Press readers not only deserve to be aware of this policy, but the policy needs to be made obvious. Readers need to know that the contents of the Public Letter Box may have been significantly altered in tone and intend by the results of The Star Press "hidden" editing policy.

I received this reply:
MR. MORRIS: Since letters were first published by newspapers, they have been subject to editing, especially for length. All letters that appeared Sept. 1 suffered that fate, even the shorter ones. That problem will always exist (letter-length exceeding space) at least in the printed paper.....LARRY SHORES
I then made the following reply:
Larry, The Problem is that the editing is not made obvious to the general reader!

I hope Larry eventually get this: the problem isn't necessarily the editing - the problem is that the editing is not made obvious to the reader!!!!

THIS IS NOT A TOY!

2005-08-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

The following warning appeared on the plastic bag wrapping of a clip on microphone that I recently received.

THIS IS NOT A TOY! WARNING: To avoid danger of suffocation, keep this bag away from babies and children. DO NOT use in cribbs, bed, carriages, or play pens, THIS BAG IS NOT A TOY! Knot before recycling.

What in God's name had to transpire for this warning label to be warrented?

Can the idiot's that would need this warning read? Can they comprehend what they've read? Most likely not.

Why are the people that need this warning allowed to be close to babies and children?

"The Dog Song" - Nellie Mckay

2005-05-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

"The Dog Song" - Nellie Mckay: "1. The Dog Song - Nellie Mckay"

Everyone Contributes

2005-02-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

Life is about making contributions through our words and deeds in our interactions with family, friends, work, and community. Contributions all have either a positive or negative impact - there are no neutral contributions to life.